YA books

Review: We Won’t All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall

~ megs14malloy ~ Leave a comment

We Won't All SurviveWe Won’t All Survive by Kate Alice Marshall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Kate Alice Marshall does a lot of things. She writes across all age ranges, and her themes and vibes are always new and exciting. I anxiously anticipate all of her releases, as I never know what exactly I’ll be getting into next.

We Won’t All Survive is a YA Thriller that features a strong survival element, a mystery and a reality game.

This story follows Mercy Gray, who gained notoriety 2-years ago after being hailed a hero during a mall shooting. The incident left her with serious medical debt however, and her fair share of guilt for some of her choices that day.

When Mercy gets offered the chance to compete on a survivalist reality show with a huge cash prize, she sees it as a chance to get out of debt and maybe even put her younger sister through college.

The show is being hosted by billionaire-turned-TV-host Damien Dare, and nothing is really known about it. It’s been kept very hush-hush.

When Mercy and the other contestants arrive at the off-grid location for the start of the competition, they immediately sense something is off. They’ve arrived on schedule, but it appears the crew hasn’t.

They find the set empty. It’s a literal ghost town. Suddenly, just as they’re trying to decide what to do, the gates close without warning, trapping them inside. Is this just part of the show, or is something more sinister at work?

When one of the contestants ends up dead, it’s clear the survival element of this show is no joke. They’re literally in a fight for their lives. Will anyone make it out alive?

We Won’t All Survive is a quick, entertaining read. It’s very Close Your Eyes and Count to 10, but for teens, so if you enjoyed that one, this is definitely worth checking out.

I do tend to love any novel incorporating a reality show element, and I appreciated that about this as well, though I’m not sure how memorable it’ll be long-term.

I thought the set-up was fun and liked learning about the situation these characters found themselves in. It did have some fairly intense scenes and I liked trying to figure out what was actually going on, and who was to blame.

There was some interpersonal stuff I wasn’t crazy about, but overall it did manage to keep me invested and focused. Just a bit of the drama amongst the characters seemed a little silly in light of the circumstances they found themselves in.

Like how about we focus on all staying alive and then we can deal with all this other BS if we actually get out of here?

With this being said, I did like Mercy as an MC. She had an interesting backstory, which was fed to us piece meal over the course of the story, and I enjoyed learning her whole story. It definitely gave clarity to many of her choices.

Overall, even though this isn’t my favorite book from this author, I still had a fun time reading it and would recommend it. This would be a great book to take on vacation, or just binge read on the weekend due to it’s compelling action and fast pace.

Thank you to the publisher, Viking Books for Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Kate Alice Marshall is so talented and I’ll continue to pick up everything and anything she writes!!

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Review: What We Did to Survive by Megan Lally

~ megs14malloy

What We Did to SurviveWhat We Did to Survive by Megan Lally
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

What We Did to Survive is a YA Survival Thriller from well-loved author, Megan Lally. I’ve read both Lally’s previous works and was excited to get to this 3rd-book from her.

This story follows best friends, Hannah and Emmy, who while on vacation in Mexico take an ill-fated sailing charter, along with Emmy’s brother, Jackson, and her current love interest, Ben, a boy she met at the beach.

The charter is towards the end of their week-long vacation, and the girls only convince Emmy’s parents to let them go sailing with Ben, if her older brother, Jackson, also goes along. He’s not really jazzed about it.

Emmy and Jackson have their own history, so all-in-all it’s an uncomfortable traveling bunch to begin with. As they approach the docks it’s clear inclement weather is coming in. They’re even warned off by a captain of another boat, but Emmy and Ben insist they’re going, and all will be okay.

Against their better judgement, both Hannah and Jackson also agree to go along. We follow their journey from that moment until the very bitter end, and what a journey it is.

This was good. It’s very fast-paced and definitely kept me motivated to keep reading. The concept was fun, but I have to be honest, the character interactions were so grating and annoying for me. I would have tossed them all in the ocean if I’d been on this boat.

I had a hard time even believing that Hannah and Emmy would be friends, let alone best friends. They’re total opposites, with the only thing holding them together seeming to be their shared history.

Additionally, the whole plot is based on a series of dumb choices, which isn’t really bad in and of itself, I just had a hard time connecting with it, or understanding the characters motivations.

That would also be fine in a Survival Thriller if the Survival elements were front and center and kept me engaged. Here I felt the survival part played second fiddle to all of the absolutely OTT-interpersonal drama.

I found all the fighting and yelling so grating. It was like 96% of the character interactions. Also, there was too much ‘let’s air all our grievances’, instead of ‘let’s come up with a plan’ happening for my tastes.

I know this sounds a little doom and gloom, and I don’t mean it to be. This still kept me entertained and I did read it quickly, I just don’t feel like I had as much fun with it as I have with Lally’s previous books.

Nevertheless, I would still recommend it. The action is intense and there is a lot of action. I think if you’re just looking for a Popcorn Thriller, if you want to be glued to the pages, if you love stories set at sea; any of things, you absolutely need to check this one out.

As for me, though it’s not my favorite from Megan Lally, I’m still glad I read it and I look forward to whatever she writes next. I do love how varied her plots and scenarios have been. She has a lot of creativity and it’s anyone’s guess what she’s going to focus on next.

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Fire, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I enjoyed my time with this one.

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Review: Showstopper by Lily Anderson

~ megs14malloy

ShowstopperShowstopper by Lily Anderson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

Showstopper is a blend of YA Contemporary meets Horror-Thriller ((light)), all set at a theater camp. When I read the synopsis, I knew this was one that I had to check out.

I’ve previously read one other book from Lily Anderson, Undead Girl Gang, and I absolutely loved it. I was excited to pick up another novel from her, and this certainly sounded like it’d be right up my alley.

This story follows 17-year old, Faye, and her friends at the Ghostlight Youth Theater Camp. This is Faye’s last year to take part in the camp, because the age limit is 17. She’s hoping it will be the best summer yet.

Faye feels like she’s finally ready to break out from the good girl parts she’s been type-cast in before. She’s ready to take center stage and wants to go after the leading role in their Riverdale-inspired production.

As soon as she starts to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight though, problems arise. She’d be competing with her BFF for the role, and that’s never really a great idea.

She’s also surprisingly attracted to the new boy at camp and that’s hella distracting. There’s just a lot of drama going on, which eventually takes a sharp, and very deadly, turn.

With stagehands disappearing and mysterious accidents occurring left and right, Faye isn’t sure if this production will ever truly come to fruition.

This was a cute story. I liked learning about the characters, as well as the drama and the history of the camp. The theater camp setting was fantastic. It wasn’t just an idea in the background, it was incorporated continuously throughout the story.

I also appreciated how diverse the cast was. I feel like the characters we got to know were all well-developed, and their interactions believable.

I think for me though, this was much more focused on the interpersonal drama than I was expecting. I feel like it’s sort of sold as a Slasheresque story, so I was expecting much more action and intensity than I actually got.

We were very much focused on the interpersonal dramas, which is fine and it did keep it entertaining. I did like the mystery too of who was messing with the production and those involved. I just kind of wanted more of that.

I wanted more action surrounding the accidents, injuries and deaths. Then also, the reveal made me more sad than anything. It just kind of put a bit of dark cloud over a story I was just really looking to have fun with.

These small criticisms shouldn’t take away from the great story the author has created here, it just wasn’t exactly to my tastes, or what I was looking for when I picked it up. I would recommend it for anyone who thinks the synopsis sounds intriguing, and musical theater lovers.

Thank you to the publisher, Henry Holt and Co., for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to picking up more from this author!

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Review: The Devouring Light by Kat Ellis

~ megs14malloy

The Devouring LightThe Devouring Light by Kat Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Devouring Light is the latest from Kat Ellis, who wrote one of my all-time favorite YA Horror novels, Burden Falls. That book solidified me as a Kat Ellis fan, so I’ve been looking forward to this one.

Once I started reading, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down, finishing it in a day. I was reminded how freaking great Ellis is at this whole writing thing.

In this story we are following Haden Romero, a musician, who is on her way to a music festival along with her BFF and bandmate, Kizi, when they experience car troubles.

Luckily, or maybe unluckily, they make it to a service station where they run into Haden’s main rival from her childhood, musician Deacon Rex, front man of the band Rex Mori. Not wanting to leave them stranded, Deacon agrees for the two girls to ride with him and his bandmates on their tour bus.

Making the situation even more uncomfortable for Haden is the fact that her ex, Cairo, is now the drummer for Rex Mori and is also on the bus.

It’ll be fine. Haden thinks they can just make it through the ride and then go their separate ways. It seems the universe though, may have something else in mind.

The bus crashes, leaving them marooned in a treacherous swamp in the middle of nowhere. The aftermath of the crash is chaos. Haden just wants to find everyone and find a safe place to collect themselves while they await help.

The only shelter they’re able to find though is a decaying old house. It looks like it’s been vacant for a long, long time, but there’s an ominous feeling suffocating them from the moment they stumble upon it.

Intermixed amongst the present sections of Haden and the other musicians, we get mixed media excerpts that are focused on a more historical glimpse of the property known as The Light.

The very first part of the story actually is one of these mixed media passages, so I really ended up loving the back and forth between those two aspects. It was fun to watch as it became more clear how it was all going to be connected.

Ellis didn’t waste any time introducing us to the main characters, their relationships and then getting us to the swamp, where the bulk of the action occurs. I really loved that setting. I haven’t read too many stories set in this kind of place, and it was a nice change.

The descriptions of the house and the surrounding area were so good. The house felt like it had a pulse. It felt that real and I was scared for our characters being there, but they had no other options. The outside was just as dark and dangerous; full of terrors.

I loved the plot progression a cringe-worthy horror imagery. There was something Cabin Fever about it and I really enjoyed that. The trapped feeling, the desperation and the disgusting descriptions of various things happening to bodies; yikes.

The end gets pretty crazy, but I was here for it. By then I was so hooked in. Ellis could have told me anything and I would have been like, yep, that makes total sense.

I think for Readers who are willing to sit back and just have a good time and go for it, this will work very well. It’s creepy, full of great atmosphere and some pretty yucky bug/creature stuff. A read I would definitely recommend for any YA Horror Reader.

Thank you to the publisher, HarperCollins, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Ellis will continue to be one of my go-to authors in the YA Horror space!

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Review: Girls Who Play Dead by Joelle Wellington

~ megs14malloy

Girls Who Play DeadGirls Who Play Dead by Joelle Wellington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Girls Who Play Dead is the 3rd-full length novel from one of my new go-to authors, Joelle Wellington. Wellington’s debut, Their Vicious Games, which published in 2023, was one of my top reads of that year.

I absolutely loved it and have anxiously anticipated her next 2-books, and while this isn’t my favorite from her, I still really enjoyed it.

This story follows siblings, Mikky and Kyla, who live in the small town of Prophets Lake, Massachusetts. Kyla is a dancer, popular and connected at the hip to her BFF, Erin.

Mikky, on the other hand, felt suffocated by their hometown, and ended up leaving to go live with his estranged mother closer to the city of Boston.

When Kyla’s best friend Erin is murdered though, Mikky returns in a desperate effort to be their for his sister during what’s sure to be the most difficult time of her life.

After he arrives home though, Mikky is confused by the Kyla he encounters. She hardly resembles the sister he remembers. She’s hard-edged, angry and demanding, a mean girl at school, and seems barely affected by Erin’s death. It’s hard to get close to her, but Mikky won’t give up.

Everyone grieves differently it’s true, but Kyla seems to be into something. She’s keeping dangerous secrets, Mikky can tell. He decides if he’s going to help Kyla, he needs to figure out who killed Erin and why.

Teaming up with a cute boy at school, Nasim, Mikky begins digging into Kyla and Erin’s relationship and the secrets they held together.

I didn’t have any trouble getting into this story. Wellington has the ability to pull you completely in. I find her stories fluid, engaging and easy to completely immerse yourself in.

I thought the characters were great and I loved the exploration of the different relationship dynamics, especially Kyla and Mikky, but also even learning about Kyla and Erin’s relationship was interesting.

As the Reader, we never meet Erin while she’s alive, but through the other characters it does feel like you can get a real sense of who she was. As best friends go, Kyla and Erin were as close as you can get, and I couldn’t imagine everything Kyla was going through after losing her, which made her anger understandable.

I loved Mikky’s investigation. Amateur sleuthing is one of my favorite things in a novel like this, especially with teens, and I like how Wellington incorporated it here.

In addition to the mystery though, there are some well done IRL issues being explored as well. Kyla and Mikky’s Dad is struggling with some financial hardship, trying to keep their family-run funeral home open, and we also get to see the impact of grief on Erin’s loved ones.

Mikky and Nasim’s budding relationship was another one of my favorite aspects. I liked them working together and getting to know one another, even though I may have done without some of the 3rd-act drama between them at the end.

I also always appreciate how bold Wellington’s story concepts are. This one is no exception. It does involve beauty influencing, so if that is something that interests you, this is definitely worth picking up. In general though, this is a strong YA Thriller and I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of that genre.

Thank you to the publisher, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m excited to see what Wellington comes up with next. Regardless of what it is, I’ll definitely be reading it!!

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Review: Final Cut by Olivia Worley

~ megs14malloy

Final CutFinal Cut by Olivia Worley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**4.5-stars**

Hazel Lejeune dreams of becoming an actress. Shortly after she graduates from high school, she ends up landing the lead role in a low-budget Slasher Horror movie. The filming of the movie will require Hazel, who goes by Haze, to travel to the small town of Pine Springs, Louisiana.

The thing that no one else knows, the secret that Haze is keeping, is that she’s been to Pine Springs before. It was actually in that very town that her father, known as the Pine Springs Slasher, was convicted of a series of murders 15-years previously.

Haze has mixed feelings about returning to the town she lived in prior to her father’s conviction. Mostly though, she just hopes no one will recognize her.

As the cast and crew arrive on set, Haze ends up in a situation she never could have dreamed of. Mysterious accidents plague them from the start and mentions of her Dad can be found throughout the script.

Then a gruesome murder shocks everyone involved. Clearly, there’s a real killer stalking the set, but it is just a Pine Springs Slasher copy cat, or is perhaps the wrong man behind bars?

Obviously, this is a crucial question to many, but to Haze it means even more. Now she’s left to try to piece together the truth of what happened 15-years ago, while also trying to get through this film alive.

Final Cut is a really strong YA Slasher. I loved the vibes, setting and the mystery behind the slashes. It did feel a little drawn out in the 2nd-half to me, but overall, a very fun read.

Olivia Worley is quickly becoming one of my go-to YA Thriller/Horror authors. I just love her plotting, atmospheres and intense dramas. Her writing is addictive, fluid and always a darn good time.

I love that she brought us back to Louisiana in this one, a setting I also enjoyed in The Debutantes. This felt secluded and dangerous, in a small town way, from the very start.

She also brought true slasher vibes to this. The danger and the kills were just boom, boom, boom, and definitely kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading further.

I would definitely recommend this to any Slasher fan, even if you aren’t a big YA Reader. I don’t think you necessarily have to be to enjoy this one. It doesn’t feel overly-YA, if that makes sense. More New Adult feel to me personally.

Haze was an interesting main character and I liked the growth she displayed throughout the story. Being back in Pine Springs really forced her to face her past, in a way she never had before. Well, that and the fact that she had a serial killer on her heels.

I liked learning about her background, and also the investigation into the murders that happened when she as a kid. I think that whole aspect added a little depth to the story that was needed and appreciated.

Overall, I feel this was well-plotted, while also keeping it fun and true to the Slasher style. Another success for Worley.

Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I can’t wait to see what Worley delivers next!!!

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Review: Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross

~ megs14malloy

Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1)Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Divine Rivals is set in a world where long-sleeping Gods are now at war. Iris Winnow’s brother has been pulled into the fight, leaving for the frontline. His absence from their household has left a huge hole, one Iris isn’t sure her mother will ever crawl out of.

Iris misses him so much, but she tries to continue on the best she can. She’s currently fighting to secure a promotion at her work at the Oath Gazette, which would secure her a columnist position.

Her biggest competition, or should we say rival, for the position is her annoying and handsomely-roguish coworker, Roman Kitt. The sparks are flying around the workroom anytime they’re in each other’s orbit.

For reasons I will not go into here, outside of work, a magical connection involving typewritten letters, begins between Iris and Roman. One that starts to stir unexpected feelings within them, and they don’t know who they’re having this connection with. At least not initially…

As the pair are pushed out of their comfort zones and more towards the war zone, magical typewriters in tow, will they be able to withstand all the new challenges they must face? And will their bond grow stronger, or shatter like the world as they know it threatens to do?

I really enjoyed this and am so glad I finally picked it up. This is my 1st-novel by Rebecca Ross, and I’m super excited to pick up more. I love how real life the world she created feels, yet it had just the right amount of fantastical elements for my tastes.

I also loved the journey that our MCs went on in their relationship. They are both extremely likable and loved the dynamic and chemistry between them.

I will admit that the history behind the Gods and all the rest of that aspect of the story have completely left my brain. I did read this in September, and am just getting around to writing my review now, so you’ll have to forgive me for that.

But what I do remember well is how much I liked Iris and Roman. I’m looking forward to the next book, because I need to know where the story goes from here. They’ve left me wanting more.

I’m sure all the Gods stuff will come back to me…

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Review: The House of Quiet by Kiersten White

~ megs14malloy

The House of Quiet is a YA Dystopian-Fantasy novel that follows Birdie, as she tries to rescue her sister from the infamous House of Quiet.

The House is a place where children can go after Procedures they’ve entailed have triggered powers that leave them unable to live in regular society. Think Miss Peregrine’s, or Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, but in this story the children feel more like indentured hostages.

Birdie blackmails her way into admission at the house under the guise that she’s a housemaid. She figures once she’s there, she can easily locate her sister, Magpie, and they’ll be able to escape somehow; hopefully.

Unfortunately, once she’s at the house, Birdie sees no signs of Magpie having been there. Instead what she finds is a house steeped in mysteries, that functions nothing like she thought it would.

Though she hoped to keep her head down and focus solely on her mission, Birdie can’t help but be drawn into the lives of the other residents and staff. It’s after she forges some surprising new relationships, that Birdie begins to unravel the truth of the House of Quiet.

This was good, but I wouldn’t say it will be a very memorable story for me. It felt in the same wheelhouse as The Hunger Games, or [book:The Good Luck Girls|36381842], and it has some interesting concepts, but at the end of the day, it felt sort of forgettable.

I am left wanting more exploration of the world, though, which isn’t a bad thing. I’m wondering if this will be developed into a series, or maybe a duology?

I read this one with a friend, and I feel like we both had the same feelings as far as the world-building. We had a lot of questions. I wish it would be explored further, it just felt very opaque.

It has some popular dystopian-features, the way the society is divided, and the stark landscape and rather bleak life prospects of the characters. It is tagged as Gothic, and I get that, but to me this felt much more Dystopian, even bordering a little on Steampunk. That’s more the vibe in my experience.

I did get pulled in pretty quickly. I found it all quite puzzling, and initially I did enjoy trying to figure it all out, but I felt like the author could have answered more.

There’s a lot of different aspects to follow here, including an underground resistance, which I enjoy, I just didn’t feel like I learned enough about the one in this story to care.

As mentioned above, after finishing, I walked away feeling like it wasn’t that memorable and wondering what the point was. It feels unfinished. I had a hard time deciding how to rate it, so ultimately ended up giving it a 3-star. It’s good, but not great.

However, with all of this being said, if there was a sequel, I would pick it up, because I have a lot of questions I still want answers for. We’ll see if that happens.

Thank you to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’ve read so many books from White, and always appreciate her creative concepts and willingness to take risks with her writing.

I’ll definitely be picking up whatever she writes next!

Review: Let’s Split Up (Let’s Split Up #1) by Bill Wood

~ megs14malloy

Let's Split Up (Let's Split Up, #1)Let’s Split Up by Bill Wood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Let’s Split Up is an entertaining YA Horror novel that made me nostalgic for the scary stories of my youth. This is a multi-perspective story that follows a group of teens in the small town of Sanera, California.

Amber, Jonesy and Cam have been best friends for years, and when new girl, Buffy, arrives, led by Amber, they quickly envelop her into their crew.

Prior to meeting our group though, we get a Prologue, where two of their popular classmates, Brad and Shelley, exploring an abandoned estate, Carrington Manor, end up getting brutally murdered.

That’s how this book kicks off, and it definitely sets the stage for what’s to come. The deaths of the two students rocks their local high school, and our main cast is caught up in the consequences of all of that.

Rumors fly around the small town that the Carrington ghoul is responsible for Brad and Shelley’s deaths, but could that really be true? A paranormal entity is hard to fathom.

When they don’t trust the local authorities to figure out what happened to their classmates, Cam, Jonesy, Amber and Buffy decide to investigate themselves, heading to Carrington Manor to dig around.

When things take a turn, and they find themselves in danger, they decide to split up in hopes of getting answers faster, thus breaking a widely recognized rule in Horror.

From there it’s balls to wall craziness as these kids just try to survive their town day-to-day. No matter the danger, they’re determined to crack this case.

Let’s Split Up was a lot of fun. The author mentioned in his acknowledgements at the end that he had wanted to explore what it would be like if Scooby-Doo was scarier, and I think he definitely succeeded.

This gave me all the Scooby-Doo vibes, with a touch of Scream mixed in, making it a truly entertaining YA Horror story. I love that there’s already a 2nd-book set to release in the Spring. I’ll definitely be reading it.

This is super trope-filled though, I do want to caution you, in case you don’t enjoy books like that, but for me, I thought that aspect was so fun.

Personally, specifically in YA Horror, I love to see all the tropes. It makes it feel more nostalgic for me, bringing me back to the stories I enjoyed as a youngster, when I first fell in love with my most favorite genre.

It’s pure entertainment. The characters were fun and I enjoyed their relationships a lot. I think it will be fun to follow them again on different cases. They have so much room to grow, and I wanna be there for it.

Initially, I wasn’t crazy about getting three different perspectives — Jonesy, Amber and Cam — but I did come to really enjoy that aspect. I think as the story continued it started to make more sense for it to be told that way.

Overall, I think this was a really enjoyable read. It’s not perfect by any stretch, but I like how it didn’t take itself too seriously. It was revisiting some of the best tropes in Horror, and I adored the added Scooby-Doo vibes. As mentioned above, I’m looking forward to the 2nd-book.

Thank you so much to Scholastic for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m looking forward to reading more from Bill Wood!

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Review: Don’t Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews

~ megs14malloy

Don't Let the Forest InDon’t Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Andrew and his twin sister, Dove, return to the prestigious Wickwood Academy for another school year, it’s clear they’re hoping to leave some sort of tragic event in the past. It’s a new year, and a new chance for a fresh start.

As the days unfold, Dove begins being cold and stand-offish to Andrew. Because of this, Andrew comes to rely even more on his handsome and rakish best friend, Thomas.

Andrew and Thomas. Their relationship is deep, full of complicated emotion and captivated me from the start.

Thomas is like that mysterious, creative, rich bad-boy that most of us find intriguing AF, and Andrew def isn’t immune to those charms, even if it feels slightly dangerous.

This story follows that relationship as it develops, and also Andrew’s own mental health as it begins to spiral. We learn about their pasts at school, and more about both of their complicated family situations.

There’s a real blending of fact and fiction. It’s lyrical and dark and beautiful in a truly heartbreaking way. My favorite aspect was the Dark Fairytale style that Drews brought to it to examine some heavier topics.

I actually picked this up for a book club, and I started it the day before the discussion was scheduled. I got through it so quickly, as I couldn’t put it down once I started. There’s an underlying sense of dread that I felt so compelling. I needed to know the truth.

I really enjoyed the writing, and while I really, really liked it, I don’t think it was as impactful for me as it’s been for many other Readers.

It seems to be one of those books that if you pick it up at the right time for you, it could be everything. It reminded me so, so much of The Wicker King, and I’m wondering maybe if I hadn’t read that one first, if I would have enjoyed this more?

Either way, this is an excellent novel and I’m excited to read more from C.G. Drews!!

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